Ghost: Zero
by Munkii
Summary: Complete. A New Confederacy has been born, and its first new ghost still has a dangerous thing: her heart. Yuri
1. Escape

Ghost: Zero  
  
Chapter 1 By Webmaster Pikachu  
  
Ten years had past, and the last surviving Confederate troops have established a small city on an edge world they have named Tarsonis B. The first colonists to land on this world were few. not more then a thousand. Most of them were in fact civilians, just trying to hang onto their last possession: life. Totally isolated from the swarms of blood lusting Zerg, and the enigmatic Protoss, the Terrans have formed a new government, established as the New Confederacy.  
  
While they may have had their lives, the desperate Terrans had few ways to defend themselves. They had escaped from the last Confederacy and its destruction by using modified civilian space transports, and dashed off to nowhere using the proto-type warp drives that were still undergoing testing. It was by chance they found themselves in a sector with habitable planets. Tarsonis B itself was mostly a water world, with 95% of its surface ocean.  
  
Few scientists had escaped elimination, and there were only a handful that arrived on Tarsonis B. For all the last 10 years they had been reconstructing the plans for the Terran arsenal from the ground up. Over this time they had developed a new Marine combat suit plan to replace the one lost on Tarsonis, and their new capital had a standing army of around 120. Not enough to stop an invasion, but surely enough to keep the peace. Already the evil minds of humanity had formed a somewhat repressive dictatorship over the new capital, and crime was already a part of life. It was only human nature.  
  
Human nature. No one could ever fully understand it. They knew that humans were explorers, able to colonize worlds and expand again in a matter of years with proper funding. Were there was expansion there was pollution. The Terran businessman had little concern for their environment or resource usage. A cloud of noxious fumes had already settled over the capital city of Fairhold, population 11,000.  
  
Over this last ten years, the population had grown by leaps and bounds. Nearly 75% of the population was 10 or younger. Thanks to the scientists, however, the children had plenty to eat. Also thanks to the scientists, children were now in school. They had few options however: study to be in the military, study to feed the people, or study to develop the lost technologies. The earliest born children, now nearing 11 years of age, were being pushed through education at a rapid rate, and would soon be fully capable of working in the sciences field. Children that opted, or were forced into, the military field would be ready by the age of 16 with the help of growth hormones that speed the development of muscle growth and quick thinking.  
  
Now this year, the tenth year after their arrival, a child was born. Her name was Selece, as given to her by her father. A mutated gene had produced unnaturally white hair and pale skin, but these mutations were natural now. Tarsonis B had an especially powerful sun, and the rays it put off seemed to be having an effect on the newborns' genes.  
  
It was five years later that Selece's father and mother noticed her psionic talents. The twin moons of Tarsonis B had just risen over the eastern horizon, and Selece's mother had just cleared the table. Selece's academic report lay on the table where she had just put it. At age 5, she had already completed a year of school thanks to thought-enhancing implants. Selece's father reached for the report to examine it.  
  
"Your marks are excellent, Selece. But what is this? 'Can't handle self in class.'? Selece, what are you doing in that academy? Fooling around?" Her father glared at her. He was always strict, and even the smallest things angered him.  
  
"I have done nothing, daddy. It is those . 'things'. Stupid children, they make it look like I'm bad, and the instructor get mad at me and I haven't done anything." Selece replied. Being a child of solitude, she rarely spoke about her education at home, even if she wasn't happy with it.  
  
"Do you think I believe that rubbish?" her father growled. He obviously wasn't father material, and he pushed his children like he pushed his employees. No excuses. His questions were traps laced with arsenic. Even Selece's innocence in the matter was compromised, and Selece didn't like it when the truth wasn't good enough, and she was blamed for something she didn't do.  
  
"I haven't done anything wrong daddy!" Selece replied, desperately trying to end the discussion. Her father was arrogant, and he was never wrong. Her outburst was punishable.  
  
"Liar!" and with that he struck her to the floor with a brutal slap enough to make even a Marine tear. Selece lay in shock on the floor as her father stared down on her with his cruel eyes. Her mother was nowhere to be seen, afraid of confronting her own husband, who she feared herself.  
  
Selece wanted to hide. She wanted to escape from there. Home had never been a safe place for her. Never. She had no safe places. The world that she knew was only a place of misery, down to the very last household. Her eyes closed, wanting to escape from everything. And then her father saw it. Selece's body grew blue for just a slight moment, and then the blue faded, and Selece's entire body turned nearly perfectly transparent. A split second later, Selece simultaneously passed out and her body appeared normal once more. Her father said nothing, and left the dwelling.  
  
The next day, Selece wasn't at home anymore. In fact, she didn't know where she was.  
  
- ~ + ~ -  
  
Selece was now 15. The capital of Fairhold now had grown to 25,000 people, with smaller cities dotting its perimeter. The children of the colonists were now adults, serving in the military, serving as scientists, or working to feed the ever-growing population.  
  
After 10 years of training and conditioning, Selece was now the first Ghost to serve the New Confederacy. She wasn't any normal Ghost however, as none of the scientists so far were able to rediscover the cloaking ability that the old Confederate Ghosts were once capable of. Selece was the first of any human known that could cloak herself using only her mind. While rash measures were taken to eradicate Selece's conscious, the primitive methods used had little actual effect. Selece, knowing that being able to think for herself was one of her most valuable assets, made sure the scientists believed that their neuro-toxins had some effect. She thanked her mother, which she now had no memory of, for her valuable lessons in self- preservation.  
  
"Zero, report to the briefing room." The officer ordered into Selece's quarters.  
  
"Aye Sir." Replied Selece. She strode down the hallway to the small room she had a certain disdain for. She had to come here when she had to kill someone, for being a Ghost also meant being an assassin, a tool of the authority.  
  
"Lieutenant Selece, your orders are for elimination, as always. We have been monitoring a council member for some time now based on reports that he is planning a coup against the New Confederacy. Our intelligence reports have confirmed this. His name is Uray Havnor, he and his family must be eliminated by tomorrow morning. I suggest you move out tonight."  
  
"Aye, Commander." Selece walked out of the briefing room silently, and returned to her quarters. The door closed behind her, and her heart throbbed.  
  
"Again. they are having me do it again." Selece didn't mind killing the grown-ups with dark hearts, but she did mind having to terminate innocence. the innocence of a child. Selece looked down to the floor, and her white hair hid her face in the pale light. She reached out for her rifle without looking, and slung it around her back. She left the compound shortly later and began to head to the Havnor mansion. Her mind was still lost in thought as she turned into a shadowy alley to sneak upon the mansion from behind.  
  
The mansion itself was fairly easy to penetrate; it was the guards surrounding the perimeter that would cause problems. Selece, wanting not to kill the guards, cloaked herself and flew over the stonewall before racing to the back of the structure. She climbed up the rear wall, and slipped into an open window. The lights in the room were off, and she used her psionic abilities to scan he room. Uray and his wife lay in the bed before her. And most unsuspectingly, their daughter was in the corner, staring directly at Selece.  
  
"You are Zero, aren't you." Asked the daughter, quietly. She seemed to be about the age of 9 or 10. Selece, caught slightly off guard, didn't reply for a moment. This child could only detect her for one reason: she too had psionic potential. There was no point in hiding the truth.  
  
"I am. I have orders to kill your parents, and you." Selece responded, trying to keep emotion out of her voice. The young girl didn't reply, didn't even quiver for several minutes. Selece could tell, as she was only a few feet away. "People make you do such horrible things, Zero. I can read it from your mind. It is not horrible to kill the dark-minded, but to kill innocence. you have difficulty. Am I not right?"  
  
"You are right." Replied Selece. This girl was none like Selece had ever met before. Most children that woke up before their own termination would scream if Selece wasn't cloaked, right before she silenced them for her own protection. It was a cruel cycle.  
  
"Kill them. Kill my parents. I will not be sad. They are evil. I have hated them all my life. All my scars are from their hands. They don't know how to be kind, or gentle. the true way to lead a nation, people, a war." The girl spoke, resolute in her own decision. Again she fell silent. Selece didn't move.  
  
"It is the right thing. Selece, that is your true name, is it not? Selece, do you not like evil? Every person in this world has the right to destroy evil. Just because they are my parents does not make them good." The girl spoke.  
  
"And you? What am I supposed to do? It is not them I am concerned about anymore. It is you. I. I have orders to kill you, yet you do not deserve to die." Selece finally said. Her face was a mixture of emotions now.  
  
"The orders are fate. The choice you make determines my fate. Which is more evil? Killing me, or disobeying orders?"  
  
"You are true to your heart, I cannot kill you." Selece reached into a pocket at her hip and pulled out a small device. She twisted a knob and laid it on the floor.  
  
"You are true to yours as well. Why fight for something you do not believe in?"  
  
"I won't fight for the New Confederacy any more. They are as bad as your father. Now, lets go. I will take care of you now. You are a symbol to me that cannot be lost."  
  
Selece had the girl climb onto her back, and they made their way back down the wall, both of them cloaked with Selece's psionic abilities. They raced far into the alley behind the mansion, but Selece didn't stop. She ran until the concrete jungle turned to the forests of Tarsonis B. She dropped her cloaking and instead used her remaining psionic energy to run faster, and deeper, into the wood. It seemed like hours, which it was, before Selece decided to stop. When they did, that had reached the far west coast, still uninhabited as it held few natural resources, besides trees and water.  
  
Selece, now feeling the effects of travel and near complete psionic energy usage, set the girl upon the soft sand on the beach, just under an over cropping rock, before collapsing herself.  
  
"I am grateful, Selece. Let me introduce myself. I am Miira." Said Miira softly. She too was tired, but heard Selece groan as she remembered the tracking device she was still wearing.  
  
"We don't have much time before my old commander wakes up. He can track me to this location. Quick, take my knife. here. See that panel on the back of my jumpsuit? Cut it off."  
  
Miira complied, and using the knife in a fairly refined manner removed the plate. It was about half a centimeter think, and it glimmered slightly in the fading moonlight.  
  
"Quickly! Place it on the sand and step back, Miira. Far back. If I am not wearing it, it will detonate if it is jostled to prevent enemies from acquiring it. I will throw a boulder from the edge of this earth cliff, here." Selece pointed to the outcropping. Using the last bit of energy she had, she jumped up the cliff, picked up a large rock, and threw it with all her might at the cursed panel. Miira, now some distance off, was still blasted by a wave of hot air, but little more.  
  
"Come, Miira, let us spend the night under this outcropping." Selece called down the beach, and Miira nodded. As Miira neared to within a few feet of Selece, she spoke once more.  
  
"How can you trust me so much?" Miira asked. It was an honest question, but Selece had already made up her mind.  
  
"Because I have no one else to trust. If I cannot trust anyone, my spirit will die. Another lesson from my mother." Replied Selece.  
  
No human is immune to the effects of loss, and Miira was no exception. Even though her parents were evil, and she knew it, they were still her parents. Selece could tell Miira was suddenly becoming distraught, even without her psionic abilities.  
  
"I'll be your family, Miira. I have lost mine as well. Sister?"  
  
"Right. Selece, you are my sister now." 


	2. Capture

Chapter 2: Capture  
  
Miira slept soundly as Selece merely dozed. She new the New Confederacy would be coming for her. She was right.  
  
Within a few hours, the militaristic government had activated its proto-type squadrons of Wraith Bs. Since the original plans were lost, Confederate scientists were forced to reengineer them. Not having stealth technology, as of yet, the new fighters, commonly referred to as Bees, were unable to cloak. To make up for this, the scientists added three more cannons to give them a total of four high-powered laser cannons, and made the sub-warp drives faster.  
  
The screaming engines of the Wraiths could be heard in the distance, and Selece nudged Miira awake.  
  
"Miira, they're looking for me. I think they knew my intentions all along. If I'm not on their side, I shouldn't even be alive. That's always been they're policy. We need to retreat into the woods for better protection." Selece whispered. Miira nodded.  
  
Selece cloaked herself, and when Miira again clung to her back, she too was hidden from view. Selece jumped up upon the cliff once more in a single bound; it was only 10 feet to the top. She raced back into the woods and went straight for the first thicket, diving under it before crawling on her stomach to the heart of the massive growth. As soon as they were safely in the middle, Selece uncloaked and sat up. Miira let go of Selece and wiggled around Selece until she was able to sit between Selece's legs, which were spread in a V shape. Selece held her rifle in her hands in front of Miira. It didn't gleam at all, even in the pale light filtering though the brush. That was the way it was designed, simply so that no one could see it in darkness.  
  
Having predicted that the New Confederacy would be sending ground forces, Selece was content with their hiding place when they arrived. Air transports could be heard on the beach where they just were, unloading marines. The tide had washed away the remains of the panel, and he marines moved to their second objective: to find and eliminate Selece and Miira. Selece's old commander knew the Selece was unstable grounds, so to speak. He knew that she had the heart of a rebel, since loyal troops didn't have hearts.  
  
Selece began looking through the brush with her psionic energy, and saw a small group of soldiers making their way past the brush.  
  
"I'd prefer not to kill them… It would be best if they thought we weren't even near here." Selece whispered. Miira nodded in understanding. She had already taken Advanced Tactics at the academy as her area of service was once planned to be that of the military. With her and Selece outlaws, everything had changed. Of course, Miira wasn't sad about it. At least she wouldn't be forced to fight for the heartless confederates, like Selece was not too long ago.  
  
The marines, seeming grumpy, peeked into the brush, saw more growth, and decided to call it good. Miira was tense, as she had never been hunted by the brutal marines before. Their reputation as bloodthirsty killers was well known. They didn't care about what their prey was; all they wanted to do was kill it.  
  
"Hey, metal heads! Break time!" called out an older marine in the distance. Obviously the commanding officer, he seemingly sidestepped normal routines and decided to call everyone over for a smoke, some lunch, or perhaps a swig of some pirated booze.  
  
Selece mapped their position using her psionic energy. She could tell where each of them was, and by scanning the area, she found an exit. Not far past the exit was a small cave that Selece had remembered seeing as she raced to the beach not more then five hours ago.  
  
Miira was already clinging to Selece's back, apparently having already sensed Selece's motives. Selece cloaked, and begin to slither out of the thick bramble. Fresh air. While remaining cloaked, Selece redirected part of the psionic energy within her, and they raced through the woods at lightning speed. Only a couple miles later, they arrived at the cave and Selece checked the area before uncloaking. She swung her rifle over her back and nudged Miira into the dark hole.  
  
Selece, having over-exerted herself for the second time, fell onto the earthen floor of the small hole. She hadn't given herself enough time to recharge her energy, and now she was paying the price. Miira was concerned, and rolled off Selece.  
  
"Tired? Selece? I'll guard the cave while you sleep. I was trained in rifle combat." Miira said, taking up Selece's rifle.  
  
"Ok, Miira." Was all that Selece could say before she fell fast asleep. Miira moved silently to the entrance of the cave, and rechecked her surroundings. Noticing it was clear, she set the rifle down and laid on her stomach to watch for any intruders.  
  
The cave that Selece had selected provided them with a critical advantage: because of the high rock and massive thorn bushes on either side of the path that lead to the small, nestled cave, attackers would be directly in the line of fire for many hundred yards before they could even get close enough to see Miira. Only with armored support could they break through, and even then, Miira noticed that Selece had a few lockdown rounds.  
  
The day passed into night, and Miira still lay at the entrance, intently watching for Confederate forces. None had shown themselves all day, and Miira believed that the marines weren't going to try this far from the beach. They had probably already left to go back to their base. Miira turned to look back at Selece, and noticed she was still asleep.  
  
Miira mind raced for a brief moment. Spies. Soldiers. She spun around, but it was to late. A dark figure had already injected her with a tranquilizer, and began to drag her out of the cave. Her limbs dangled helplessly as the effects of the serum took effect, and she could only dimly see the air transport in which she was headed with her own psionic energies.  
  
More soldiers, cloaked in the darkness, appeared. They wore the black snake symbol of Special Ops Marines, who were highly trained in assassination, abduction, and rescue. They began to move towards the small cave to take Selece, or kill her, and Miira's mind raced once more.  
  
"Wake up Selece!" Miira called, her mind bending the psionic energy around her and summoning Selece to awaken… and she did. Taking up the rifle that Miira had dropped in her abduction, Selece cloaked herself and took aim.  
  
The marines were soon trapped in a field of lethal volley's from the rifle. Each shot found its mark, and the unlucky marine to be hit fell to the ground. Selece advanced upon the fallen group, and using her sensing abilities, checked to make sure there were no more. Seeing that there wasn't, Selece raced to the air transport to rescue Miira, but it was too late. The dark figure had already closed the hatch, and the transport was ascending rapidly. Selece aimed for one of the engines with a lockdown shot and fired. The engine sputtered moments later, and the ship slowed, but continued to race away, far enough to the point that Selece could no longer fire at it.  
  
"They are trying to trap me." Thought Selece. It didn't matter though, they had Miira, and Selece wouldn't lose her that easily. She slung her rifle upon her back and began to race after the transport. With one of its engines out, she could keep up with it.  
  
The branches of trees and the wispy shoots of the fields of grass wiped past Selece. Channeling nearly all of her energy into speed, her cloak became only partial, but it was still adequate enough to prevent the enemy from seeing her in the dark.  
  
"You are chasing after a child," she told herself. She managed a smile. "It proves you still have a heart that those Confederate pigs can never take from you."  
  
Not more then an hour later, Selece noticed that the transport had come to a stop, and was now descending. She slowed her pace to afford her more cloaking, and began to sense her surroundings. Even with a relatively small population, the New Confederacy had equipped its facilities for extremely tight security, as if they suspected revolt.  
  
Within range to find Miira by tracking her psionic imprint, Selece temporarily stopped tracking her to begin scanning for hidden camera's, traps, and defensive turrets. Taking carefully aimed shots, she destroyed each one she found, and bypassed the fatal traps that the New Confederacy was already feared for. Not only did they kill, they killed a person the most painful way imaginable. Selece even feared the blueprints for the traps, which included details on how they specifically kill. It was always this obvious to Selece that the New Confederacy didn't trust its own people.  
  
Selece reverted her senses to Miira. It seemed she had already moved into a bunker not far from herself, and she dashed in its direction. Any time with the New Confederate militia and you would soon regret living, and Selece didn't want Miira to become such an example.  
  
"I never realized how much civilians might fear these installations… " Thought Selece as she took out another automated turret. The bunker that Miira was now kept was in sight, and Selece could see that the hatchway was left open. No doubt a trap, but one the Selece could survive.  
  
Slowing, Selece reach the entrance and stepped, without a sound, into the bunker. Cloak detection technology was still primitive, but it was enough to detect Selece. She scanned the bunker, but saw no sign of any such device. She moved on, homing in on Miira's signal.  
  
"Selece, it's a trap." Miira's thoughts floated their way to Selece on psionic energy.  
  
"I know." Selece responded with her own energy. Miira's imprint became stronger, and Selece knew she was close. She readied her rifle and cautiously peeped around the next corner, only to find Miira bound to a wall, and gagged.  
  
"Shh." Selece thought, and Miira, although desperately wanting Selece to know the truth of the traps set for her, remained quiet in thought as Selece undid her bindings. Selece heard the bunker hatch slam shut. It was locked seconds later, and Selece, having removed the foul rag from Miira's mouth, immediately began to senses for any newly activated traps.  
  
"The bunker, its rigged with explos…" began Miira, but she was cut off when a mechanical, yet human, voice began to filter through the bunker.  
  
"30 seconds to self-destruction, Selece. It seems your cursed heart will finally be destroyed. True ghosts have no heart. Not even you can escape from this bunker. It is sealed tight. Goodbye, Selece."  
  
"…explosives." Miira finished. Selece slung her rifle over her back. She had been trained well in one thing, at least. She feared nothing, and her mind would work under even the most brutal stress. Selece grabbed Miira and brought her close in a tight, hurried embrace.  
  
"Miira, think of the cave. Close your eyes. Concentrate. It is time to disappear. Forever." Selece decloaked a moment later, and closed her eyes. She felt Miira's heart beating; her own heart beating. The cave. Together they will be in the cave. Their hearts synced in rhythm, and Selece could feel psionic energy wrapping around them, engulfing them. Explosions rocked the bunker, but Selece and Miira were no longer there. They were in the cave once more, with Selece slumped over in exhaustion. 


	3. Beginnings

Chapter 3: Beginnings  
  
Two years later.  
  
The New Confederacy hadn't touched Selece and Miira. In fact, they thought they were dead, so sure were they that the two teenage girls had been killed in the explosion. Of course, they weren't. Selece had managed to teleport herself and Miira 40 miles using their combined psionic energy. It was no simple feat; it took Selece two weeks just to recover her energy. She didn't even know she had that much to recover.  
  
Over these last two years, Selece and Miira came to fully understand their ability to communicate with only thoughts. Instead of trying to yell to one another, they simply called within their own minds. It was a very efficient method of communicating when it came to hunting for food.  
  
While the New Confederacy no longer knew of their continued existence, squadrons of Wraith 'Bees' still passed over their cave on a regular basis. So regular was this basis, however, they were able to give themselves adequate time hide before the fighters even began ascending from their docks.  
  
While Selece had barely changed over the last two years to become the age of 17, Miira, now 12, was rapidly advancing maturity. Thanks to growth hormones given to her while she was under Confederate control, her mental structure had advanced to great extents. With this new ability to understand, Miira had been able to start learning about psionic energy and its uses from Selece. While Terran scientists would have considered such things phenomenal, Selece was able to teach Miira how to cloak herself. In all reality, it was actually quite simple: you merely move light around you. Selece figured that the lost cloaking mechanisms of the original Confederacy operated in a similar way, except using electrical energy.  
  
The cave had become a sanctuary. Selece and Miira had created a small tunnel at the end of the original cave, and after many months of work, they turned the single narrow tunnel into a highly complex underground labyrinth with a decently sized central chamber. So confusing and enigmatic were the passageways that Selece and Miira could only locate their true home by using their psionic sensing abilities. In time, Selece wanted to load up the tunnels with traps to further prevent discovery.  
  
The central chamber was actually deep underground. To allow ventilation, 20 small shafts were created to allow fresh air in. A few stolen air pumps kept the heavy carbon dioxide from lingering.  
  
While most of the surrounding sub-terrain was bedrock, a small crack allowed a small amount of water to drip into the chamber. While it amounted to only a few gallons a day, it was enough to quench the thirst of the female inhabitants. Small containers, 'picked up' from Terran scout camps, were aligned under the miniature fountains to collect the water.  
  
Two makeshift beds were constructed within the chamber, side by side and both filled with grass, feathers, and whatever else Selece and Miira could find that might be suitable for filling. While the air in the chamber was generally pretty warm, the ground remained cold. As soon as Selece and Miira stopped moving around, the air too became frigid, and because of this they were forced to share the few covers in their possession. It may not have been the best, but it was home, and their small beds were one of the most inviting things they knew of after a long day.  
  
Selece and Miira were content with living this way. Not once did it cross their minds that perhaps their previous life had been better. It was perhaps more of an opposite as neither of them could say anything good about their previous years.  
  
News of the cruelty and injustice that the New Confederacy was committing against the people reached Selece each time she disguised herself and snuck into the Tarsonis B capital city of Fairhold. Torture, forced military drafts, uniformalization. It all happened. Children had little choice concerning their field of study, and neither did their parents. Psionic capable children were put through programs to form them into a new task force. Members of this task force, while not cloak capable, were able to move faster and sense hidden objects with their psionic abilities. They were known only as the Psi Ops. Selece didn't think much of them, as most barely possessed a quarter of the energy capacity and talent that Selece and Miira possessed. Selece reminded herself everyday about how lucky she was when it came to finding Miira, and saving her at the cost of everything.  
  
So hideous were some of the tales that Selece learned that she arrived back at the chamber one day distressed to exhaustion. Miira knew something was wrong the moment Selece began to make her from the cave entrance to the chamber.  
  
"Selece, did something bad happen? Something in Fairhold? Another atrocity?" Miira questioned, lowering a small wooden cup into her lap. Selece stared at Miira for several quiet moments before speaking.  
  
"Parents have been trying to refuse to allow their children into the military, knowing that even without war the death rates were considerable, simply because of the spirit breaking chemicals, hormones, and all the other toxins they throw into soldiers. In order to suppress this so called 'disobedience', the Confederate pigs are humiliating, and even in some cases, torturing the families. I shouldn't have to explain the multitude of ways they carry out these crimes. I don't even want to think about it. Even worse, they are brainwashing the children to force them to forget their families. It really is horrible, but the real truth is that the officers in charge of these perversions are profiting. They get money each time they 'recruit' someone. The government knows they're doing it, but they ar." Selece was cut off as she drifted backwards, Miira forcing her to seat upon a bed. In her tempered words, she had not noticed that Miira had approached her, and lost her train of thought as Miira sat next to her. Miira didn't speak immediately, but after a few seconds, she did.  
  
"Selece, we can do something about this. You, and possibly I alongside. we could end this. Lay evil to rest. We can make the government fear us. Fear so great that they would be forced to follow the rules we make for them. It is possible. They are only sheep without someone to watch over them. If one should become diseased with evil, we will eliminate them. You can't have bad meat, or bad wool, for that matter." Miira said, slightly cold. Night was falling upon the outside world, and a cold draft was flowing through the airshafts into the room. Miira noticed that Selece's dinner was still sitting on the floor near their small stove. Miira stood, walked over and picked it up, bringing it back to Selece.  
  
"Here, your meal is getting cold." Miira motioned with the wooden plate quietly, nudging Selece with her free hand. Selece stared at the plate.  
  
"Would you care if I died, trying to save their pitiful government?" Selece questioned in an abrupt tone. Miira had taken care of her on a regular basis since the teleportation from the bunker two years ago. Miira had given her all the sisterly/motherly love she needed to continue these last years. There was no doubt that Miira cared about her.  
  
"You are distressed, Selece. This information will eat away at you. You have the power to change it. Do something, at least, before there is nothing I can do to cheer you." Miira prodded. Her full faith in Selece's abilities was showing now. She didn't doubt the fact that Selece would never fall before the Confederacy. She never did.  
  
"You have put to much faith in me, Miira." Selece replied, reading Miira's thoughts.  
  
"No, I haven't. Now eat." Miira put a crudely carved spoon into Selece's mouth, containing a mixture of roots and fish from the ocean, only a few miles way. Selece chewed and swallowed it down.  
  
"Would not eliminating those fiends for this power of fear be just the same as they? They kill others; they inspire fear, in their quest for power. I do not want to be like them, Miira.  
  
"There is a difference you have overlooked. The leaders of the New Confederacy wish for power for more then one reason. Besides controlling people, they control money, assets. They have the power to kill innocent people in mass. You do not wish for such wealth and assets, you are content with what we have. You do not wish to kill innocence. You have already proved that, to me. You are not like them, and you have the power to do good for our kindred. You can make our race proud once more."  
  
"And what if I should fall?" asked Selece.  
  
"I will follow without hesitance." Miira replied, simply. Selece looked at her plate, and took another bite.  
  
"Let's make this race proud, Miira. I will teach you more then usual now, as well. In a few years, you'll be ready to follow along." Selece concluded, finishing the last of her small meal and taking a drink of water out of her canteen. Miira turned off their small electric lamp, and a quiet darkness seeped into the cavern, with the occasional drip of water in the near distance as Miira and Selece slept.  
  
Selece set out early the next morning. Within a few hours, she reached the outskirts of the ever-growing capital city of Fairhold. It was still fairly quiet, seeing that it was the weekend. Spotting the capital building, the largest structure in the city, she stepped behind a dumpster and cloaked herself before continuing.  
  
Myradis Ustav was high council member in the New Confederate government. Selece had known for some time that he also ran the academies in Fairhold. His policies were some of the few that forced children into the military. Selece was also aware that he was testing neuro-chemicals on children more recently, hoping to find a way to improve muscle tissue growth even before the age of 10. So far, all the test subjects had died from radiation poisoning, as the chemical tried to stimulate growth by agitating the human system. It was rumored that Ustav was in a race with other wealthy politicians to find the perfect formula in exchange for nearly one million Confederate credits.  
  
Selece's target was Ustav. At this time, he would probably be in his office. Selece passed into the capital building undetected. Once inside, she was relatively safe. So many people worked there that no traps could be placed, and few troops could be kept inside. Creeping down the corridor fully cloaked, she found his office. She sensed that Ustav was within, and alone. She stepped back and pulled her rifle from behind her back. Attaching the silence, she took aim using her psionic sensing, and fired. A hole simultaneously appeared in the door and in Ustav. He slumped over in his chair. Selece was already creeping away before his head hit the desk.  
  
Before heading back to the cavern, Selece dashed into the nearest military installation. Knocking out a few heat-sensing cameras, which sometimes could detect a cloaked unit, Selece broke into the munitions storage. Lining the walls were boxes labeled with the names of their contents. Selece grabbed a box of rifle rounds, and then a box of lockdown rounds. She slung her rifle over her back, and after a few more minutes of searching, she found what she was looking for: another C-30a rifle, just like her own. Before leaving the supposedly 'secure' facility, she ripped open a box of explosives and set their timer for 30 seconds. Five seconds later, Selece had left the compound. Ten seconds after that, Selece was outside of the installation. Nearing the edge of the city, an explosion rocked the ground.  
  
"No more weapons for them, at least for awhile." Selece murmured as she sped home, loaded down with lethal provisions.  
  
Miira was outside waiting for her, having sensed her arrival.  
  
"How did it go?" she asked. "No problems. Ustav was eliminated." Selece replied, decloaking. She set the boxes of munitions on the ground carefully and unslung the stolen C-30a from her back, and handed it to Miira.  
  
"This is yours, Miira. About time you had one. You are a ghost now." Selece explained. Miira didn't quite know what to say, and Selece laughed lightly.  
  
"Your welcome." She grinned, only to receive a hug form Miira.  
  
"It means a lot coming from you, Selece. Thanks." Miira murmured. It was the perfect gift, even if it was odd to be accepting such a lethal weapon. The real gift was the chance to go with Selece and make a difference.  
  
"Soon, Miira. We will operate together. Soon." Selece replied. 


	4. Presence

Ghost: Zero  
  
Chapter 4: Presence  
  
Two weeks after the assassination  
  
A light hum could be heard from the canopy of the trees, and an entire Terran patrol team was nervously listening to the buzzing object move completely around them several times a second. It stirred up enough air for the surrounding branches on the trees to shake.  
  
"Sir, I say we shoot it." One marine recommended.  
  
"Shoot what? You know what command says when we waste rounds. They'll send us to the kennels for a night if we return to report we blew off a few hundred rounds trying to hit some noise." Another replied harshly, gazing into the air for any noticeable disturbance. The members of the squad were all only sixteen years old, and their height reflected that even while their muscle mass defied all logic.  
  
"What ever it is, command will want it. If we miss this chance, we'll be in the kennels anyways. M-TY 7, activate audio tracking for 360 degrees, 180 polar." The squad commander ordered. The marine who was labeled as M-TY 7 complied without further delay and dropped his pack to the ground. After pressing a few buttons, a tracking display came up.  
  
"92 miles an hour. Approximate mass: six to nine hundred pounds. Currently in orbit pattern around TY 3, orbital radius is 31 feet, 23 feet off the ground." The soldier replied with an air of accuracy.  
  
"It's cloaked. There's no other explanation." Spoke up a marine from the back. "Command will REALLY want this one. Let's blow it up."  
  
"Aim for object as directed by readings, men." The commander ordered. The squad raised their weapons. There was no point in undoing the safety: It was never used in the first place. "Fire."  
  
A barrage of rifle fire filled the air as lead tore through it in every direction. The humming could no longer be heard above the gunfire, but the audio tracking system still had a weak grasp on the noise. The object was attempting to move away, but with no luck. Several dozen rounds ripped through its fragile hull. The cloaking field disappeared and the object fell to the ground with a great crash, spewing dirt in every direction.  
  
"No way," commented TY 3, "That thing was orbiting me? I'm no planet."  
  
"No, but your head is a space rock in any case. Don't be dense, it's an Observer. Protoss. They are here. I've been telling all of you they were here all along, but noo..." Interjected TY 4.  
  
"Idiots, its just a probe. They aren't here." The commander brought his hand to the side of his helmet and pressed a button. "Command, this is M-TY 1. We have a Protoss Observer. It has been disabled with rifle rounds. Requesting a transport."  
  
"M-TY 1, a transport is being dispatched. Hold position and keep a log of all activity in the immediate area."  
  
"Will do Command. Holding position. Over and out." The commander dropped his hand back to the barrel of his rifle. "Tonight is going to be a good night, men."  
  
---  
  
"Miira, can you feel it anymore?" Selece asked as they sat on their makeshift bed.  
  
"No, I can't. Those marines must have shot it down... I can't feel the psionic energy. The device is dead. What could it have been?" Miira replied thoughtfully, taking another bite out of her lunch.  
  
"I... I don't know. But I do know that it wasn't made by the Confederacy. It has a strong psionic signature. Could it be... Protoss? I remember learning in my Military Operations: Near History class that the Protoss race was keen with psionic talents, and used that knowledge to imbue machines with the same energy, providing them with nearly unlimited energy for a high capacity shielding system. I also seem to remember... they also had cloak technology." Selece recalled.  
  
"You don't suppose that was why they weren't firing at it, do you? Maybe they couldn't see..." Miira was cut off as Selece had jumped several feet in the air, dropping her meal, and rushing towards her rifle.  
  
"The device had cloaking! Miira, grab your gun, and hurry. The Confederacy must not have that technology. We need to destroy it completely. Oh yes, grab a pack of the J-19 explosives." Selece dashed to grab several lockdown rounds before beginning to dash through the tunnels to the surface, using her psionic energy to prevent herself from running into a wall, to increase the speed at which she was running, and to find her way out. Miira was close behind, although more concerned about running into the wall as she had less experience using the psionic energy to control her movement in narrow tunnels.  
  
Upon exiting the vast network of underground tunnels, Selece and Miira cloaked partway before racing off into the forest in the direction of the crash.  
  
---  
  
"M-TY 1, this is transport Ayelliocron 3, we have entered the area. Please prepare for extraction." The transport had already come into view, although the vibrations emanating from the engines could be felt for many more miles away.  
  
"Yes sir. M-TY Squad ready." The commander reported back. His men were dreaming up promotions already. The transport finally pulled in and landed in a small opening in the forest. As its engines were put on standby, a door opened up and another two squads of marines marched out.  
  
"M-TY 1, this is M-C 1. Anything else happen here?" spoke the man as TY 1 and his squad faced the general with rapt attention.  
  
"No sir." Replied TY 1 gruffly. Sweat was already beginning to form on his brow at the sight of the high ranking officer.  
  
"Good. As expected. All men, I am in command now. Spread out. I don't want anyone else within a 500 yard radius or I will personally execute the lot of you. Move out!" Ordered the general before turning to approach the fallen machine. "The scientists will love this one. Get it onboard the ship, now CK! Get off your hands and use those fresh feet of yours."  
  
---  
  
"They're moving it!" cried Miira in her thoughts.  
  
"I know," replied Selece. "We need to do our best. I know you haven't been trained very much, but... we don't have time! God, we should have left sooner! Cloaking will just add to the power of the Confederacy. Another piece in their accursed plans."  
  
"I should have asked you to train me more... I know I should have..." Miira started, but Selece interrupted Miira's thoughts with her own.  
  
"Don't blame yourself. Just do your best. Do your worst. Wipe everything out. We're almost there. Full cloak." Selece said, finishing the conversation of thoughts.  
  
"Aye," Miira replied simply.  
  
The crash site came into view, but the machine was just being sealed away in the transport as the main hatch was beginning to close.  
  
"Miira, crescent pattern. Go right, I'll go left." Selece ordered softly by thought. She could never give a solid order to Miira. She still hated them.  
  
Miira acknowledged the order with a nod of her head.  
  
The crash site was soon a mess of bodies and confused marines. A flash of light from one direction and a marine fell. A flash of light from the opposite direction and another marine fell. Selece and Miira were going around in half circles while aiming and firing using their psionic energy. At that speed it would be difficult to spray a few rounds and expect a hit. Already seven marines had fallen, their heads totally gone. Selece and Miira had no time for second shots at the same soldier.  
  
"Command, this is M-C 1. We are under attack. I repeat, we are under attack. Attackers unidentified. I repeat, attac..." Static was the only thing heard on the other line. The general's head had been swiftly removed by Selece.  
  
"This is command. M-C 1 has fallen. All soldiers, we have the debris. Full retreat. Transport, do not wait for soldiers. This is a direct order. Leave the area immediately." The dispatcher called over into the radios of the remaining marines. The transport began to rise. Several marines tried to board as it lifted from the ground, but only one made it: TY 1. The rest fell back, and into the deadly fire from the C-30a rifles.  
  
"Squad TY and all others remaining. Spray cover fire and retreat. Then pray to God. Come back safe, soldiers." Came the commander's voice over the radio. The remaining ground soldiers scattered into the woods, shooting random shots towards the epicenter of death, which now had claimed thirty lives, nearly eighty percent of the ground forces deployed.  
  
"Miira, get a lockdown round on that transport, quickly!" Selece told her through thoughts. Miira slowed her attack and loaded a round into her rifle, then brought it up to level with the transport, now quite a distance away. She fired.  
  
The lockdown round burnt out just yards from the right engine. The dead round dropped into the trees and disappeared. However, Miira was preparing to fire a second, only to be hit by a shell in the side of her abdomen. Her rifle dropped to the ground.  
  
Selece had seen the whole thing like it was a horrible nightmare. Miira's cloaking was fading fast now. Selece dashed to her side.  
  
"Miira, don't move. Drop your cloak, use your energy to pull together the tissue." Selece whispered, not bothering to speak using thoughts. Miira nodded painfully, a tear escaping her eye.  
  
"There are still three marines. If they saw you decloak, we are in huge trouble... I need to dispose of the... I..." Selece chocked. She couldn't stand seeing Miira in the situation she was in, especially as the first of Miira's blood began to seep through her clothes.  
  
"Go, I'll be... I'll be okay." Miira smiled weakly.  
  
Selece nodded. She had enough faith in Miira to survive while she hunted down the remaining soldiers. Using her psionic talents, Selece terminated all three within minutes, even so she punished herself for not ridding the world of them sooner. Selece raced back to Miira as she tried desperately to control the blood loss with her psionic energy. Selece decloaked and focused her energy on Miira's wound.  
  
"Miira, you can relax. I have your wound under control. Here," Selece whispered as she picked Miira up, "hold on." Grabbing Miira's gun and throwing it over her shoulder with her own, Selece began the trek back to their underground home.  
  
The sky had become cloudy by the time Selece reached the entrance to the cave, and her psionic energy was nearly diminished. She pushed on, into the tunnels, however only at a normal pace.  
  
Entering the main cavern, Selece gently laid Miira upon the bed.  
  
"Hang in there," Selece coached quietly as she began to remove Miira's blood stained clothing. Miira nodded, her eyes beginning to feel heavy. The pain had subsided a bit, but she still knew that the slug was in her.  
  
Selece grew weak at the sight of the blood as it stuck to her hands. The wound from which the blood came was small, but the bullet had gone straight threw several layers of muscle. It would be a lengthy recovery time. And, being that Selece was feeling bad about the incident, it wasn't only Miira that had to recover. The shot had struck close to Selece's heart as well, and Selece was stressed and tense with anxiety.  
  
The only way to really fix a wound like this was to inject new cells into the wound. The cells would naturally find places among the broken tissue, and then the cells would attach to other cells to the point it would rebuild the flesh.  
  
"I need reconstructive cells to get you fixed up, Miira." Selece informed her patient, although she was beginning to doubt the situation.  
  
"We... We don't have any of those, do we?" Miira inquired, trying to keep her own fear out of her voice.  
  
"No... I would have to run to Fairhold to get them. That's more then a few hours roundtrip... But you need them." Selece replied softly.  
  
"If you leave my side, how will I manage to hold my body together? I can't focus my energy like this... It's basically gone anyways..." Miira commented, but only in a whisper now. "Don't leave, Selece. Stay with me..."  
  
"And hope for the best. I will hold it closed as long as I can, and let a little bit of the wound go every hour or so to heal... It might work..." Selece whispered, but she was hiding the fact that her psionic potential was nearly depleted as well. Even a few hours would be difficult.  
  
"And hope for the best," Miira finished. They both knew, however, that the chances were slim. Selece, especially, was kicking herself for asking Miira to fire the lockdown round. She was kicking herself for not keeping an eye on where the marines were firing. And even worse those soldiers had made away with the one thing that Selece and Miira couldn't afford to have them take away: the Observer.  
  
No, that wasn't the worst thing. Miira... She might still be taken away as well. 


	5. Contact

Ghost: Zero  
  
Chapter 5: Contact  
  
----  
  
Authors Note:  
  
Thanks for the reviews! I know its been awhile, but sometimes I do run out of creativity for long periods of time, and then its very difficult to pick a project back up again. Hopefully I can hang onto this project long enough to finish it this time!  
  
Enjoy!  
  
~ Munkii  
  
Additional Note: Spelling Errors Corrected Jan 25th, 2004  
  
----  
  
Two hours and twenty-three minutes after injury  
  
The cavern had become dark as the lantern on the ceiling had run out of fuel. The air was seemingly still even as the air pumps could be heard in the distance pumping away the deadly carbon dioxide that would have otherwise lingered close to the ground. Being that nothing was moving, the air was also frigid like the walls of the cave.  
  
Lunch from before the strike on the New Confederacy was still dashed upon the ground, hard and cold, and no longer appetizing. The two C-30a rifles were at the foot of the makeshift bed, where Selece had dropped them more then an hour before.  
  
And then there was Miira, laying still in the bed, covered with rough sheets and blankets. She had become cold even after Selece laid every single blanket in their humble possession over her. Miira's blue eyes were still open, and Miira herself was awake, still in too much pain to sleep.  
  
Selece had no time to be distraught. Any distraction and she would lose her control over the wound, and perhaps Miira herself. Her psionic energy level was dangerously lower then she usually let it go, down in a gray area where she had only been once before. That time was when she and Miira teleported, and she remembered quite clearly that it took nearly two weeks to recover her energy.  
  
Even though she willed herself to keep a clear mind, Selece was still battling with conscience. She blamed herself once every five minutes for asking Miira to fire the lockdown round. She blamed herself twice for letting Miira get hurt.  
  
Yes, whatever it was, it was about Miira now. The child that Selece had saved from her own weapon. From her own government. From the twisted, wicked universe that they lived in. Miira, that child with the silvery hair that sparkled even in faded light. The child with the contagious smile, and the will to continue in the face of all adversaries. The child that was true to herself. And now she was on the brink of death, only alive thanks to the strange energy that both girls possessed and wielded.  
  
"Selece, I'm cold." Miira whispered. Selece was still sitting on the edge of the bed, and she moved to look into Miira's sapphire eyes once more.  
  
"We don't have any more blankets... I don't know what else to do," Selece replied softly, but she was nearly cut off.  
  
"Please," Miira said quickly, with slight anxiety, reaching one hand out from under the covers. The cold fingers grasped Selece's hand, and Miira weakly pulled it deeper under the covers. "I know you're weakening, Selece. I know I might die toni..."  
  
"Don't say that, Miira... Don't say that..." Selece interjected, cringing at the thought briefly before clearing her mind once more to avoid losing control of the injury.  
  
"I know I might die, Selece. There is no point in hiding it. I know that my chance of recovery is slim... If I am going to die tonight, please... Let me die as the only person in this world who ever meant anything to me holds me and keeps me warm, if not for my wound, then for me." Miira's eyes shined slightly in the darkness as psionic energy, albeit weak, flowed within.  
  
Without saying anything, Selece removed her jumpsuit, dropping it to the earthen floor. She still had a long sleeved tight shirt on underneath, with matching pants, as part of a secondary layer of clothing to prevent moisture from sticking to the body, but Selece neglected to remove it. It could keep someone warm in a chilly situation.  
  
Selece walked around to the other side of the bed and collapsed onto it, climbing under the few covers. Deftly sliding an arm behind Miira's upper and lower back, Selece rolled the entirety of Miira on top of herself at once. Miira cringed once more at the sudden jolt of pain, but the worst of it quickly disappeared as Miira's body came to rest. Selece wrapped both her arms around Miira's back.  
  
"I could never say no to you." Selece admitted softly.  
  
"I know." Miira replied simply, closing her eyes as the warmth from Selece began to filter though her.  
  
----  
  
"M-TY 1, I do NOT want explanations. I do NOT want guesses. Who ambushed you?" ordered M-B 1, a gruff fellow with thin hair. He was a general, and one of the original colonizers of Tarsonis B.  
  
"Sir, I do not know more then I have already told you. They could not be seen. There were at least two attackers. Their guns sounded like C-30a's. I'm telling you, its them." TY 1 responded, partially confident, and partially irritated.  
  
"Those girls are DEAD! You hear me? D - E - A - D. DEAD!" the general roared back.  
  
"But, it ha..." TY 1 started again.  
  
"Shut your mouth, boy, or I'll have you court martialled." TY 1 closed his mouth promptly. "You listen to me. You are the only survivor that remembers the combat scene. The pilot and the pitiful scientists messing their pants in the back of that ship remember precisely squat. They weren't there in the fight dodging bullets. They wouldn't know a canister rifle from a gas grenade. Zero? Alive? Ha! Tell that to Command! The entire division will be roaring with delight at your UTTER STUPIDITY!"  
  
The general, red in the face now, was glaring at TY 1. The squad commander was still convinced he was right however, and looked away.  
  
"Fine. See it as you wish. Get out of my sight before I decide you're not worth keeping. Alive." The general turned away, and TY 1 jumped from the chair, saluted, and left the grimy, musty office at a hasty pace.  
  
"Idiot," the commander muttered as he left the complex. Irate now, the commander didn't even notice an oddly familiar hum just 40 feet away. However, the humming object noticed the commander and decided he was worth following.  
  
----  
  
Selece had always known that Miira was the only thing in the entire universe worth saving. The only thing in the entire universe worth protecting. Perhaps the only being with a soul bright and right enough to fight for, but now, as Selece's mind raced through possibilities, she began to wonder if Miira meant more to her then she had previously realized.  
  
The 12 year old girl that rested on top of Selece was asleep now. Selece had told Miira it was okay to sleep because it would allow her to regain her psionic energy faster. If she could regain enough, perhaps Selece could run to Fairhold for the reconstructive cells. Even then, Selece doubted she would have the energy herself to run at top speed for more then the minimum three hours. She doubted she could run at half speed for six, and still hope that Miira had the energy to keep her wound in check. Yes, that situation was the epitome of a best possible situation. It would never come to be.  
  
It was then that Selece remembered the other most pressing concern. The Confederacy had escaped with the Observer. Those soulless monsters had escaped with the one thing her and Miira were risking their lives to destroy. They had lost that battle. Even after killing nearly three squads of marines and a general, the fact remained: they had lost that battle. And they had nothing to show for it save for a young girl holding onto life with no more then a few fingers instead of both hands.  
  
Speaking of life, it was cruel. Gone were the happy, carefree days of piracy and looting in the city, when Selece could walk up to any bunker, sneak past several dozen deadly traps and heat detectors, steal away with several thousand credits worth of supplies, and walk away with impunity. Gone were the days when Selece and Miira could dash along the beach without a care for anything else in the world. Dash along while every other living soul on the planet was clinging to sanity under the strict regulations of the New Confederacy. She wanted this new pain to go away. She wanted Miira well. She wanted to forget about all the suffering her race was going through. But she couldn't. She still had a heart.  
  
A spark of psionic energy escaped from Selece from under the covers, and although she could not see it, she felt it. Her energy was nearly depleted now. The last few minutes of sustenance were now. She shook Miira awake gently.  
  
"It's almost gone, isn't it." Miira asked weakly.  
  
"Yes." Selece replied, a tear streaming down the side of her face. Miira, facing her, saw it roll down, softly landing and disappearing into the cover on the bed.  
  
"I do not want to leave you, Selece." Miira confided in a whisper. "But if I must, I must. We are at war. War is dangerous. War always carries the same price."  
  
"No, you must not leave," Selece replied.  
  
"We both know it," Miira whispered. "We both kn..."  
  
Miira was interrupted, but not by Selece's voice. Selece had cried out in denial using her thoughts, a desperate cry that would make any psionically strong recipient weak in knees. And with that cry went the last of Selece's energy. Here eyes grew dim as she attempted to keep the wound closed with energy she did not have, but to no avail.  
  
A warm liquid began to cover Selece's stomach, and tears streamed from her face now in a torrent. Miira closed her eyes, pushing away all the pain she could and concentrated the energy she had regained with sleep over the last hour on the wound. It would afford her eighteen more minutes, at the most, as her energy to physical effect conversion wasn't quite as good as Selece's.  
  
"Selece, I can hold it for a bit longer, just long enough to tell you something." Miira whispered, nudging Selece to pay attention to her instead of trying to hold the wound closed with little more then nothing. Selece's pale eyes opened to look at Miira. "I want you to remember that I have always loved you. Never forget that. Everything we did together, we did it because we loved each other. Everything we were prepared to die for, we did it because we didn't want to give up on the human race. Don't give up on those people, even if they are cruel and twisted. I am going to die for them, so don't be sad. Be proud. Say to yourself 'Miira died for those people. I can't give up until the job is finished. We started this, and now I am going to finish it. No, not for me... for Miira, the only person I have ever loved.' And Selece, you don't have to say anything. Your thoughts have always told me that you have loved me, even since the first day, and even now, on our last."  
  
"I do... I do love you," Selece choked through tears.  
  
Silence filled the room as the minutes ticked away, but it wasn't long before Selece heard a noise in the tunnels, coming closer with every second.  
  
"Have they found us?" Miira asked, forcing fear from her voice. She already had dedicated herself to her fate.  
  
"I don't know. I don't have the energy to check who it is." Selece replied, not moving.  
  
"Get your gun. You can still live." Miira prodded gently.  
  
"No, there is no longer any point in staying here. If we are to go together, then so be it." Selece finished, and the room became silent, save for the approaching sound in the tunnels. More minutes passed, but Selece ignored the sounds, even as they stopped.  
  
"Selece, someone is here," Miira noted softly.  
  
Quite suddenly, before Selece or Miira could think anything, a face appeared out of the darkness, followed by a body, armored with the darkest material either of them had ever seen. The figure glowed from the inside, as the cave itself was still dark.  
  
"Greetings. I am Yah'zugar, High Templar and Commander of the Haz'rad deep space scout fleet. Please, do not speak. I know much about you two. I have been following your activity for many months, and charting a path through your fortress. This is the first time I have been in here. I am here to extend a friendship to you two, and you two alone, the great saviors of your race on this planet. But, besides friendship, I have come to offer aid. I received a call for help from Mistress Selece not fifteen minutes ago, and I feared the worst. I followed the psionic footprint from Mistress Miira down into this chamber. I have come to heal you Mistress... Miira. You are the one that has suffered wounds during glorious battle, am I not correct?"  
  
Selece didn't waste even a moment to reply. A door had just opened for both of them.  
  
"Yes!" Selece said quite suddenly, anxiety in her voice. She threw back the covers and rolled Miira over to reveal the drying blood on her inner jumpsuit along with the faint glow of psionic energy keeping Miira alive.  
  
"Such extraordinary talent this young child possesses... Taliz, you can uncloak. Please save this being." Another Templar decloaked, walking forward.  
  
"I shall, High Templar Yah'zugar." Taliz replied. "I shall."  
  
Selece and Miira smiled for the first time that day. They were being given another chance. They had friends now. Allies. The whole situation had just been turned around, and they were grateful.  
  
"Miira, you're going to be okay." Selece whispered. Miira smiled. 


	6. Future

Ghost: Zero  
  
Chapter 6: Future  
  
Late that night on the day of injury  
  
High Templar Yah'zugar hadn't even left the cavern over the course of several hours. He, like his fellow Templar, stayed with Selece and Miira. Taliz was especially skilled with first aid on humans, and Selece reckoned he had been with the original fleets that encountered the Terrans back in the original Terran home sector of Korpulu. Meanwhile, after pouring in more fuel, Yah'zugar graciously relit the gas lamp that hung over the living space. Taliz asked him to sit down, High Templars didn't get where they were by filling lamps.  
  
"It's quite alright, my faithful Taliz. I wanted to have a look at these fine rifles. They have been taken care of well." Yah'zugar explained.  
  
"Please, go ahead." Selece added half awake, and Taliz gave up his argument.  
  
"Thank you, kind Mistress. Please, sleep. You do not have a drop of energy left in you, in more ways then one." Yah'zugar replied, and Selece smiled, closing her eyes. She was asleep in moments.  
  
Miira was drifting off to sleep as well, and as soon as Taliz had finished mending her injury, she dropped off into slumber.  
  
"There is too high a concentration of residual psionic energy in these walls for me to get a message to our command ship. Taliz, please go to the surface and send a message for me. Tell them to drop the submersible fortresses about 500 miles West before moving them off the coast, here. The Terran Confederacy will be out looking for these girls, and so they will need a backup location to live and launch from. Make extra sure that the transports aren't seen by Terran radar."  
  
"We are staying for awhile, I presume High Templar?" Taliz replied.  
  
"Yes. We have friends here now, fighting against great odds. I will not abandon them." Yah'zugar explained.  
  
"I understand." Taliz left the cavern silently, and the High Templar turned his attention back to the two girls.  
  
"So young as well..." Yah'zugar admitted quietly to himself.  
  
----  
  
"Sir, I'm getting a strong active psionic reading from the West coast! Stronger then anything I've ever seen," reported a communications officer.  
  
A burly man with a gray beard and sinking eyes lumbered over to the display. He was M-A, the man in charge of all ground forces. However, when he reached the display, the signal was gone.  
  
"Where? Don't waste my time, boy!" M-A roared. "I'm not here to chase you and your fool's errands!"  
  
"It was there, sir. I saw it on the display." The officer replied confidently.  
  
"Why didn't we see it before? Did it just appear out of thin air to say hello?" M-A asked sarcastically.  
  
"This is a relatively new system, sir. Remember sir, it was added last week sir. It takes two hours to complete a 360 degree scan, sir." The officer knew that 'reminding' the high general was a dance with death if one wasn't careful, and was sure to include plenty of 'sirs' to make up for it.  
  
"Are you saying I'm an idiot?" The general roared again.  
  
"No sir." The officer replied hastily.  
  
"Then shut your mouth." Ordered the general. "Dispatch two squadrons of Bees to the West coast!"  
  
"I'll have to clear that with air command, M-A sir." The dispatcher on duty called out.  
  
"What's your call sign, dispatcher?" The general asked with baited breath.  
  
"C-BI 4."  
  
"C-BI 4, is it? GET THAT CLEARANCE NOW you dog! You here me? NOW! Not later, NOW! Whatever it takes!" The general bellowed, shaking the eardrums of every last person in the control center. Although, many were already used to M-A's impatience.  
  
"Yes sir," replied the dispatcher quickly, stressed and visibly tense.  
  
"I hate you young people. Grow up already." The general said cruelly, turning away from the teenage dispatcher.  
  
----  
  
One hour later  
  
The sounds of approaching craft could be heard now as the Wraith 'Bee's closed in on the coastline. The psionic energy that had been found by Confederate ground command had already disappeared, however. That energy was Taliz himself, and he had already retreated back down to the cavern after delivering the message to the Yulag'ya, the command ship for the Haz'rad scout fleet.  
  
The command ship was a Carrier-class starship, however it was heavily modified with enhanced drives and scanning capability and was actually classified as a Carrier S-class. It was currently stationed on the far side of the planet, where the Terran's radar could not scan at the current time.  
  
The sound of twenty-four Wraiths could just be heard from the central chamber, and Selece and Miira awoke.  
  
"I have become conscious of a thought, High Templar. I believe the Terran's noticed me when I delivered the message to our command ship." Taliz confessed.  
  
"I am understanding the same feeling as well, my friend. It is of no concern. While the Terran Wraith is powerful, the pilots are not. They are incapable of tracking us in here. The residual psionic energy that permeates this labyrinth will fool any sensors they may have, and the cannons on those starships could not even begin to pierce this bedrock." Yah'zugar replied calmly.  
  
"You got that right," Selece commented sleepily, listening with her eyes closed to the Wraiths overhead. Miira, realizing that Selece was awake, moved her hand into Selece's. Selece closed her fingers around it.  
  
"Are you doing okay, Selece?" Miira asked in the same tired manner.  
  
"Yes, I'm fine." Selece answered, looking back towards Miira.  
  
"Mistresses, please sleep. You must regain yourselves." Taliz advised.  
  
"Taliz is correct, my friends. I get the feeling that the Confederacy has taken an interest in our location." Yah'zugar added.  
  
The girls nodded, and they shut their eyes once more.  
  
----  
  
"Command, this is A-BU 1. There's nothing here." Reported the squadron commander from his Wraith as he circled the area with his wing mates in formation.  
  
"Commander, return home. A-BT 1, you have permission to return home as well." The squadrons turned East and started the trip back to the landing pads.  
  
"Waste of time, again. They make us practice for hours every day, and for what? Scouting? Not one of us has ever shot at any Protoss, or Zerg for that matter. Waste of time, I'm telling yah." Commented a pilot.  
  
"Genius, you have found the reason behind the job description for all pilots. We aren't recreation experts for nothing." Joked another.  
  
"That's enough chatter, let's just get home and back to bed boys." BU 1 ordered.  
  
"Yes coach," laughed another one.  
  
----  
  
Next morning  
  
Selece awoke first, only to find two Protoss Templars waiting expectantly for her. Her head was throbbing, and her hands were shaking.  
  
"Mistress, please do not stress yourself. You depleted your energy last night, and you are not expected to have recovered it by now. I'm sure you already know about the side effects of total energy depletion." Taliz advised. Selece nodded slightly, just as Miira awoke.  
  
"Good morning, Selece, Templars. It is morning, isn't it?" Miira greeted.  
  
"I believe in your time it is 0800 hours, so I would assume that it is now daytime here. Neither I nor my companion have left this chamber since we sent the message to the Yulag'ya. It is the case, however, that you are both awake and in terms of human tendencies, I believe it is time for a meal." Explained the High Templar.  
  
"Selece hasn't eaten since noon, yesterday." Miira commented. "Although, I am sure what you eat is far different from what we eat."  
  
"True, although both of our races do eat the seeds from many plants, baking them into breads and such. Bread is one of the staples of our diets. The seeds are from our home world of Aiur, so they may taste strange to you, but they are good to eat, and many humans have eaten them before." Yah'zugar pulled out three small packages from a small pouch under his cloak, handing one to each Selece and Miira. Taliz pulled out one from his own.  
  
"Please, eat. You must be hungry. While you consume that, I shall explain a few things to you so that you understand them. I do not want to create a distance between my race and you two by not sharing basic information. That would be very unwise." The girls, along with the other Templar, unwrapped the rations and began to eat as Yah'zugar continued.  
  
"After the Zerg plans to invade the Protoss home world of Aiur were discovered, I was sent by my people off into space using a proto-type drive that enabled us to fly ever farther away from the chaos. The fleet was labeled as a deep space scout fleet, as that was its primary purpose, and it has served that purpose well.  
  
"However, our fleet wasn't ordinary in the least. It was sent to ensure the survival of our species, as well. The Yulag'ya is home to many Khalai, the minds behind our greatest advances, the hands that have built our homeland. They are the beings that have made this ship possible. They are the beings that drive us forward in every way imaginable. I have been entrusted with protecting them.  
  
"When we heard the news that our home world was burned, we hastened our speed towards this system as our scanners had reported water and life. After nearly 21 years of travel, we have caught up to the Terran ships that carried your race here. The original transports that brought you here had the most advanced warp drives anyone had ever known, making 21 years into just 10. I refer to them as being no longer because if they were still here, I would imagine that they would still be in use.  
  
"Finding that this planet was the only habitable planet within several months of travel, I, as commander of the fleet, decided it would be best to begin analyzing the planet and its inhabitants. We sent out many Observers, and they have been patrolling the world for quite awhile. Like our fellow Protoss back home many years ago, we grew curious about the human race here in this time, and still found that the majority of the population cares little for the environment, and for each other.  
  
"But, like before, we also noticed that these Terrans are advancing their technology at an extremely rapid rate. Every few months a new weapon is put into production, a modification is added to the squadrons of starships, or a new chemical is found to enhance vision. We are fortunate, though. The population is far to small to expand to new planets, and so the Terran scientists haven't worked very hard on regaining the technology for full orbital scanning, and we have been able to keep our fleet safely out of harms way by keeping it on the far side of the planet. It seems that the Terrans goal right now it to build might on the ground.  
  
"While the Wraiths are fully capable of entering orbit, they don't, and it is my guess that the Terrans do not wish to. There really is nothing up there save for a sun and distant stars. Or, there could be another reason, and that is because the Terrans do not want anyone to know that they are here. Remaining on the planet's surface makes it difficult for others to pinpoint the identity of the inhabitants. However, if a Wraith were to enter orbit, it would be instantly noticeable as being of Terran construction. But even noticing a Wraith from the distance of Aiur or even Tarsonis is quite impossible, even with the best technology, and that is why we have no fear when it comes to leaving our own fleet in orbit.  
  
"Soon after deploying our scouts, we found you two Mistresses. We were able to observe you without you noticing from a distance, but that distance grew as your psionic talents improved, and our intelligence flow diminished. Even so, we were able to discern the facts from the falsehoods to arrive at the conclusion that you were trying to purge your race of the evil minds controlling it. But, even with your valiant efforts, we knew that you two alone could not fully succeed.  
  
"I, along with the other captains from the various ships in the fleet, met only a few weeks ago to decide the best course of action. It was decided that we would soon visit you two and offer friendship. Additionally, we would hide under the oceans and build a new city to promote the continued survival of our race. But, we did not want to leave the Terrans out of the equation. It was also decided that we would help you two, in any way we could, regain control of your race and finally set it straight. Finally end war, and militarism. We are so far from everything we left behind that we will never be found, and if something were to actually find us, we would have plenty of time to organize a defense. Together. Protoss and Terran races operating together. Both of our races can bore psionic capable offspring, and that is one of the greatest advantages the history of war as ever known.  
  
"And, as you have probably have already guessed, our plans have been put into action. We are sorry we did not tell both of you sooner, my Mistresses, but there was no time. Mistress Miira was loosing her grasp on her own life, and the plan was thrown off. Please forgive me for not consulting with you sooner, as you are the greatest human beings I have ever had the privilege to know, and I do not want to put pressure on you at your young age. You already have a lot to account for as it is." Yah'zugar finished. Selece and Miira, having eaten their strange bread, didn't speak for many moments, absorbing the information. It was Selece who first spoke.  
  
"High Templar, you have saved Miira, you have saved my dearest companion, you have come to preserve your race, and to preserve mine. You have given me and Miira a second chance. There is no need for apologies. We are in this together now. This is our world to share, and I propose an oath to one another, to encompass the four beings within this room forever. Loyalty, faithfulness, and friendship, until the universe itself fades from existence." Selece held out her hand, with Miira's following closely. Yah'zugar walked to the side of the bed and kneeled to be level with the girls, placing his hand with theirs. Taliz, who had been silent for quite some time, moved in last, kneeling and placing his hand with the rest.  
  
"It is an eternal oath. And with it as our guide, let us make this world great, and our races proud." Yah'zugar vowed with utmost sincerely. It was yet another step towards something great, and a bright future seemed to be showing itself in everyone's mind now. 


End file.
